NEW YORK (WKBW) — The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announced Wednesday new regulations have been put in place for hunters.
Hunters are now prohibited from bringing whole carcasses of deer, elk, moose, and caribou harvested outside of New York into the state.
The DEC says the transportation of carcasses through New York is still legal "provided that no parts are disposed of or remain in New York, but hunters should verify importation rules in their destination state or province."
Still allowed into the state are:
- Deboned meat
- Cleaned skull cap
- Antlers with no flesh adhering
- Raw or processed cape or hide
- Cleaned teeth or lower jaw
- Finished taxidermy products
The DEC says these new regulations are to protect New York's wild deer and moose from Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).
CWD is an untreatable and fatal disease that impacts the nervous system. It affects deer, elk, and moose and is spread through direct contact with an infected animal's body fluids or contaminated sources of food and water.
“Chronic Wasting Disease poses a significant threat to New York’s deer and moose populations,” said DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos. “We don’t have CWD in New York, and we want to keep it that way. With these regulation changes, we are acting to reduce the likelihood that hunters or owners of captive CWD-susceptible animals may inadvertently bring the disease into the state.”
Other regulations announced include: increasing the ease for DEC officers to enforce DAM regulations and clarifying disposal requirements for taxidermists that process animals that are susecptible to CWD.
